NFL Fines Browns Policy $10,000

The NFL fined Cleveland Browns president Carmen Policy $10,000 Friday for comments the league said violated its tampering rules.

Policy's remarks, made at a civic luncheon last week, were in answer to a question about whether the expansion team would be interested in Green Bay Packers coach Mike Holmgren.

The Browns president responded by saying he was not permitted to talk specifically about Holmgren, "because that would be tampering."

But he added, "Let's just say if a head coach who's out there, who has won a Super Bowl, who has been to another Super Bowl, who is coaching a team in contention for the playoffs this year, who is an offensive-minded coach, looking to perhaps move when the season's over, were to be interested ..."

Policy's voice tailed off as the audience laughed and cheered.

Policy later said his comments were made in the spirit of the occasion and he was just trying to give excited Browns fans some news about their new team.

NFL rules prohibit the Browns from approaching other teams' coaches and front office personnel while they are under contract, and the league's anti-tampering rules states: "Any public or private statement of interest in another club's employee is a violation."

Policy recently has been criticized behind the scenes by other teams for his ability to get Dwight Clark from San Francisco. Clark, who worked under Policy with the 49ers, was appointed the Browns' director of football operations earlier this week.

There has been wide speculation about Holmgren's future in Green Bay. Two weeks ago, Packers general manager Ron Wolf estimated there's an 80-percent chance Holmgren will leave Green Bay, and last weekend the coach got into an argument with a fan while walking off the field at a Packers home game.

message was left for Policy, who earlier this week said he hoped to have a new coach by Feb. 1.

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